Sam's arms ached as she swam toward the rocky shore. She'd been out to sea for so long she forgot there was a whole other world, sharp and hardened, that had to be dealt with from time to time. That time had come back around. Seven years felt like a walk around the block. Sam…

I always knew my imagination would save our lives one day. So began Cheryl Jessup's latest project. She read the sentence a couple of times, then paused as she flexed her fingers above the keyboard. Cheryl planned to alter a few details so her book would read like a work of fiction rather than the…

Gary knew how to boil water. Mighty helpful when it came to dinner time. Sure, he could have gone the nuke-it route, but Gary was old school. He liked the blue box and yellow lettering. He liked the skitter-skatter of the elbows cascading out of the cardboard. The familiar plink-plonk of macaroni into the pot…

The idea had heft to it, and Loni liked the whole self-reliance angle. Going against the tide wasn't a natural sensation for her, but then she needed a new tactic to keep her on track. Her goal of making assistant manager down at the Chik'n & Biskit turned gray and hazy, where once the prize…

All is well in Lenore's pastel world. Every edge is encased in cotton. Surfaces are soft and Lenore melts into walls and comes out the other side wiser for being so fluid. Intuitive. Lenore pays a visit to her neighbors and asks about their health, their holidays, their sons and daughters who run away when…

Melancholy wrapped in euphoria disguised as attention deficit disorder. Add a side of bacon and Bill was the Full Meal Deal. He'd done a lot of bouncing around in his day, but now he was so very weary of beginnings. Too much newness wears away at a body. There has to be some sense of…

Zeke made himself comfortable on the back porch, with his pipe and strong black tea. He settled in after a long day of words and tones and facial tics that revealed everyone was a liar. The packers wanted the fruit of his labor at a cost next to nothing, and used words like channels, shares,…

Anna-Marie couldn't make her face fit in the circle. Just as well. She said it all before anyway and nobody paid any mind to her impeccably formed opinions. Anna-Marie imagined all her good ideas were still stuck in the hall's rafters. At least the résumé was scrubbed and pinned prominently in the center of her…